Vocabulary

1. amusement, lifetime, recreation, review, image, scene, celebrated, imposing, major, whole;

2. to end with, to rename, to hold parades, to present, to lit, to combine.

Glossary

¹ goes back to -- берет начало

² amusement lights — потешные огни

³ Amusement Field — Потешное поле

⁴ court nobility — придворная знать

⁵ the Tsarina's Meadow — Царицын луг

⁶ an Eternal Flame — вечный огонь

Notes to the text

1. Practise the pronunciation of the following words:

Mars, lifetime, fireworks, amusement, recreation, court, nobility, meadow, image, war, panorama, imposing, interior, major, to bury, burial, whole.

2. Match the words in the column a) with the words of the column b):

a) 1. military 7. marble b) 1. image 7. monument

2. amusement 8. finest 2. nobility 8. building

3. court 9. interior 3. soldier 9. events

4. celebrated 10. political 4. lights 10. decoration

5. allegorical 11. granite 5. victory 11. whole

6. imposing 12. magnificent 6. statue 12. platform

3. Complete the sentences with the expressions from the text:

1. The history of the Field of Mars

2. Such festivities

3. The first name of the square

4. The monument to A. Suvorov

5. The panorama of the Field of Mars

6. The park is surrounded by

7. Later the Field of Mars became

8. An Eternal Flame

9. The green grass carpet, the ancient trees and the buildings designed by great architects………..

5. Summarize the text.

UNIT SEVEN

NEVSKY PROSPEKT

Part I

History. Nevsky Prospekt is the main thoroughfare¹ and the busiest street in St. Petersburg. It is the cultural centre of St. Petersburg and focus of entertainment². Nevsky Prospekt looks very modern, but it is joined physically and spiritually with the old. It stretches for nearly 4,5 km from the Admiralty to the Alexander Nevsky Laura to which it owes its name. Its width varies from 25 to 60 metres. Nevsky Prospekt crosses three waterways, the biggest being the Fontanka River. The history of Nevsky Prospekt dates from the first years of the city's existence. Long before the Northern War the territory of present-day St. Petersburg was part of the Novgorod lands.

The Great Novgorod Road linked the Russian villages scattered along the banks of the Neva with other lands belonging to Novgorod. In 1709 a path was cut through the sparse woods from the Admiralty Yard to Great Novgorod Road known as Great Perspective Road. It was laid out as the start of the main road to Novgorod and soon became dotted with fine buildings, squares and bridges. From the middle of the eighteenth century the prospekt gradually began to acquire its architectural shape. Since 1783 it has come to be called Nevsky Prospekt.

Nevsky Prospekt was the financial centre of the Russian Empire. On the stretch between the Admiralty and the Anichkov Bridge there were twenty — eight banking establishments³. The streets close by were also crowded with banks and insurance offices⁴. Today Nevsky Prospekt with its adjoining squares is one of the oldest, largest and loveliest avenues of the city with lots of sights to see and green parkland to go. It has many attractions which tourists can enjoy. It is one of the few places in the world where a visitor can find such a rich variety of natural and historical beauty, culture and entertainments.

To get a better knowledge of it and to admire the beauty of its architectural ensembles let us go sightseeing along Nevsky Prospekt.